They’re the format from another decade. But the growing popularity of animated .gifs has compelled several new production tools to launch — the latest, from a heavyweight, could validate the moving images even further.

Wacom’s newest digital drawing capture device is a genuine pen-and-ink clipboard that captures, stores and then transfers your real-life drawings to your computer as layered vector files. Called the Inkling, it’s an amazing peripheral that could change the lives of graphic artists and casual doodlers alike.

There are alternatives to Photoshop Elements, including a gaggle of online image editing programs offered either for free or a modest fee. None of them holds a candle to full-fledged bitmap image editors like Photoshop Elements, Pixelmator or Acorn in terms of power and sophistication, but depending on your needs, image editing “in the cloud” could be all you require.